Interest rates were hovering slightly over 10%, a gallon of gas set you back 91 cents, a first class postage stamp cost 24 cents and the year ended with the Dow Jones Industrial Average at 2,168.
Ronald Reagan was President, with George H.W. Bush winning the fall presidential election in a landslide over Michael Dukakis.
Two of the most popular musical performers were the Beach Boys and Gloria Estefan. The movie “A Fish Called Wanda” hit the big screen.
It was also the last time the Salem Red Sox won a first half championship in the Carolina League.
That 28-year exercise in first-half futility is on the verge of being extinguished thanks to one of the best rosters of top prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization.
Salem fans can celebrate if the final push plays out as expected heading into the June 20-22 All-Star break that marks the end of the season’s first half.
A first-half championship would assure the Salem Sox a spot in the final Carolina League championship divisional playoffs at the end of the season. It would set in motion an exciting second-half in the heat of the summer when Salem officials will have plenty of promotions and special nights at the ballpark to draw the larger crowds. With a first-half title securely under the team’s belt, the fans will come because they love to be associated with a winner already in their corner.
Salem hit the ground running this year with a roster of top prospects, none bigger than Andrew Benintendi. Boston’s seventh overall pick in the 2015 Draft out of the University of Arkansas was the early season catalyst for Salem as they wasted no time taking control of the Southern Division. Benintendi had some staggering statistics with his bat, and the center fielder earned Carolina League Player of the Week honors at the end of April.
As could be expected in the role of the minor leagues, Benintendi was promoted to Double-A in May, and while the Salem Sox had a mild hiccup after his departure, the rest of the team rebounded to pick up the slack.
Salem answered the call to begin June, when their closest pursuer in the Southern Division, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, came to Lewis Gale Field for a four game set that had the potential to map out what the stretch run would look like.
After Myrtle Beach took the opener on June 1st, Salem followed by sweeping the Pelicans in a double header the following night. The Sox then put the icing on the cake in game four, coming back twice from 6-run deficits to pull out the backbreaking 11-10 win that put a tight clamp on the Pelican’s beak heading into the final two weeks of the first half.
Saturday night, Salem followed with a 4-3 walk-off win over Lynchburg at Lewis Gale Field after scoring the tying run in the eighth and winner in the bottom of the ninth.
Heading into a pair of road games at Lynchburg Sunday and Monday before taking on the Hillcats Tuesday night in Salem, the Sox stood 7.5 games up with 14 games to go. Putting that lead in perspective, if Salem (37-19) can simply play .500 ball down the stretch, Myrtle Beach would need to win out over its last 15 games to have any chance.
Ironically, in that 1988 season, Salem won the first half with a 40-29 record as a member of the Northern Division. That Salem Buccaneer team faded in the second half, then lost to Lynchburg in the Northern Division final. Lynchburg’s affiliation that year was the Boston Red Sox.
This season, the Lynchburg Hillcats, a Cleveland Indians affiliate, have been the front-runner of the Carolina Northern Division, creating the possibility of a Route 460 Carolina League Championship Series for the Mills Cup Trophy come September. In the meantime, the rivalry should magnify as the Salem and Lynchburg will meet 12 times in the second-half, six times at each team’s park.
Salem last won the Carolina League Championship in 2013 with a 3-0 sweep over Potomac. They also took the Mills Cup home in 2001 when they topped the Wilmington Blue Rocks 3-2. In both those championship seasons, Salem rebounded with strong second-half performances to reach the playoffs.
Salem finishes the first half with a pair of 4-game road sets against Wilmington and Winston-Salem sandwiched around a three game set against the Potomac National June 13-15.
Somewhere in that time frame, a 28-year drought should come to an end, setting the stage for a summer of fun at Lewis Gale Field.
Bill Turner
